


Quiet

by SqueeneyTodd



Series: Adjustment [1]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-07
Updated: 2015-11-07
Packaged: 2018-04-30 10:30:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5160455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SqueeneyTodd/pseuds/SqueeneyTodd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There were times when she remembered the quiet of the Ruins.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Quiet

**Author's Note:**

> A quick drabble with some very tiny soriel, spoilers for the true end

There were times when she remembered the quiet of the Ruins-nights where she stayed awake and heard other members of her suddenly large family watching television or playing games. Even when this familiar noise died down into silence, there was still a car or two that seemed to be in such a hurry at the early hours of the morning. And around this home she found herself in, woods full of chirping things, croaking things, water.

The Ruins, overall, had been lonely. It had been nearly unbearable for the first few days as she was stuck only with thoughts of whether her decision had been correct; then, she would remember how uncharacteristically angry and vengeful he had been, and would tell herself that she had been right. Even in the familiarity of Home, the loss she had suffered felt magnified ten times over. She adjusted of course-in her age she had found patience, and then, with her child gone, she seemed to have had more than enough time to develop a tolerance to the passage of it. There had been enough books for her to read for a few months. She had gone slowly, taking as much time as needed on each page. With no intent on leaving the Ruins and no real hope of ever escaping this underground prison, she had known every distraction to be a small blessing. She realized how lucky she had been to have had such an easy time obtaining food, especially ingredients for different types of pies. The nearly-abandoned Ruins had been good for something after all.

But all was silent, regardless of the other monsters that had stayed in the Ruins for various reasons. They wouldn’t have dared to approach a boss monster, especially one who had just appeared one day without warning, and after she had settled in, they had let her be. Her appearance in the Ruins had not been joyous for any party, and she had not come in trying to make a good impression. The Ruins had simply been a place to run to, a place where she would never have to see him again-and a place she had known was close to a small hole in the cavern.

She had told herself that she could do only one thing to stop his plan, and that was to stop and humans from reaching him at all. 

The plan had been a complete failure, and that box of shoes still stood in that room, left behind after all the moving had been completed with the help of her new family. She could not touch it, and had asked the others to stay clear of that room altogether, for she would deal with it. If they had listened to her request, that room would be in the exact same condition for the rest of time. Silent, full, and empty.

Over the years, she had had six different housemates. Some had stayed for a while; one in particular had loved to cook. They hadn’t exactly been a child, but she had not seen them as an adult, either. It was hard to tell sometimes with humans. But like the other five, they too had somehow slipped away when she was asleep or out to get groceries or just out for a walk. And every time she had returned, the house had been silent. And somehow, the news would always reach her: the king’s plan was moving along, and soon they would all be free. She should’ve been smiling; she should’ve been happy. They were all going to be free.

And so, between guests that couldn’t stay, there was silence, unbroken, even when she had appliances running and a fire burning. Everything was white noise when it went on long enough. Even the text of a book could blur with enough rereading, when she would reach the point where she knew every word down to the letter. Even food she had once loved began to lose flavor once she had had it one too many times. And one person can only think so many unique thoughts before one feels dried up. Eventually, she had started to lose the feeling in her chest when she looked at old photos. To go completely cold is a scary thing.

So, it helps to have a friend knock on your door, if just every once in a while, to break the silence.

She had laughed more in those short bursts of time than she had had in years; with every day, the silence filled with noise again, the sound of the fridge, the crackling of fire magic, her footsteps down the stairs. And a couple of knocks echoing down the hall. She had had a reason for coming to this place-to protect those he wanted to kill, if she could. And if she had learned anything from her past experience, it was that she could not definitively keep a fallen human with her in safety, not forever. Trusting someone from the outside had not been a very solid plan, but it was all she had had; and besides, someone who had taken time out of their day just to stop by and exchange a few jokes with a tired old lady had to have some heart to them. And, somehow, he managed to keep his promise in a way, according to the child that was fast asleep in the room next to hers.

She fought the urge to leave her bed and check on them. She knew that any child would have nightmares after a quest through the underground, and like any mother she could not help but worry at times. Night is a quiet time, even with the constant background noise, and the quiet can become quite unbearable, once you get used to it.

* * *

 

She just left her room to listen at Frisk’s door for any tossing and turning, but heard nothing. The television was on down the hall, a familiar theme playing faintly from the living room. _Perhaps they have fallen asleep on the sofa_ , thought Toriel, walking down the hall. _I will just go in to turn the television off._

Trying to tread lightly, a relatively difficult task for a monster her size, she made her way around the couch, but instead of her child on the couch, it was Sans there to greet her, waving lazily in the light of the television. She smiled at him and looked at the screen. Following what she assumed had been an MTT feature was a human program featuring a few adult humans in front of a colorful backdrop, facing a live audience. Another human sat at a desk, searching the inside of a striped hat for a slip of paper. A bony hand waved in her peripherals and then gestured to the empty side of the couch.

“They’re gonna start makin’ up songs next. Turns out some humans aren’t half-bad at jokes.” He had her with his last word, and she was soon sitting next to him, laughing along with the audience and at some point or another placing an arm around his shoulders.

They did their best to stay silent, but it’s hard in good company. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> no idea how long this Adjustment series will be, comments welcome


End file.
